Freezing Fire, Burning Ice
by tomboy14
Summary: The mission was simply to deliver a scroll to the village leader on a small island just off Konoha. How did this entangle Team 10, especially Shikamaru and Ino, into a government run by a cult? Or rather, how will they escape from this alive?
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Hey everyone! I started this, God, probably a year and a half ago due to a prompt from my brother (when he was into this type of stuff), so obviously the writing is a bit weak in places. I've recently fallen out of Naruto, but ShikaIno will forever hold a special place in my heart. So here this is!**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto.**

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_-Slice-Slice-_

_-Slash-Slash-_

We walk in on Team 10 as they are traveling through a jungle. Nara Shikamaru, who is in the front of the group as leader of course, pauses from his cutting of the branches, vines, and all kinds of plant life blocking their passage, to wipe his forehead with the shoulder of his shirt. The 18 year old chunin wore his regular bored/irritated expression on his face, but there was a new emotion along with it: exasperation. Summer in the fire country was hell. Of course, he had decided to remain in his regular ninja attire, in all its dark and heavy glory. His black long-sleeved shirt stuck to his body like a second skin from all the sweat. The sleeves of his shirt were pushed up past his elbows, the fishnet that usually occupied his lower arms absent, and beads of sweat could be seen dripping down the revealed skin. Even though he had removed his chunin vest, it did little to relieve him from the heat. He put his kunai away for a moment before removing his hitai-ate from his arm, then peeling his dark shirt off with some difficulty. He remained only in his fishnet now, and was feeling slightly cooler. Shikamaru retied his hitai-ate to his bicep, flexing his arm to make sure it was not too tight, but not too loose as well. He then looked up to the sky, no clouds visible on this day. The sun still beat down on the young chunin's tan face through the trees. There was no wind either; no reprieve available in the muggy climate. _Damn, this mission is such a drag._ He thought. _There aren't even any clouds to relieve us from this damn sun_. Shikamaru then felt something bump into him, rather some_one_, shaking him out of his reverie, and turned around to see Ino on her behind, quickly rising to feet again. She had an agitated look on her face.

"Dammit, Shikamaru, can you move any faster?" 18 year old Yamanaka Ino asked, more like demanded, glaring at her taller teammate. Ino looked over at him to see that he had removed his shirt, and was only clad in his fishnet. The fishnet basically covered nothing, and might as well not be there. Ino could see the well defined upper body of her best friend, and started to go lower until she realized she was gawking at him. _Damn these last few years have been good to him!_ Let's just say Ino had a strange attraction to tall, tan, and muscular young men. But Ino quickly shooed away those thoughts and returned to the matter at hand. She was sick of standing there in the middle of a dense forest to just get to some damn small village to present the village's leader with a scroll from Tsunade-sama. _Why the hell had the old Team 10 been chosen for this mission? Is this scroll so important that three talented chunin had to take it to this isolated place?_ She sighed. No use pondering over such matters. All she needed now was to get to this stupid village, which hopefully has running water, so she can get a bath. All the sweat was making Ino feel disgusting. She shot a glare at Shikamaru again, hoping to distract him from what had happened just moment ago. All she needed was her teammate/best friend feeling uncomfortable around her because she had been checking him out.

Shikamaru sighed. He had caught Ino's stare, and was starting to feel uncomfortable until she looked back up to his face with a glare, her whole body language blaming him for being out in the heat. He shook off the last few moments, figuring the heat was messing with her, and just looked at Ino with that exasperated expression painted across his usually uninterested features. He gazed at the sky again. _How troublesome. Why is it always _me_?_

It wasn't his fault they had been assigned this god forsaken mission in the middle of the summer. It was not unusual for missions to pile in during this time of year, but this was their 4th mission in 2 months! And they were not short missions either. Only one was C ranked that lasted one week, the other two were B ranked, both lasting two to three weeks _each_, as was this one they were currently on. If you do the math, you can determine that there were very short breaks between these missions. Tsunade-sama never does this, but for some reason she decided to pick on Team 10 this summer. Teams 7 and 8 have only been on one important mission together. The rest have been with other groups or solo missions for its members.

Shikamaru looked over to Ino, a scowl written across his face. He quickly scanned over her appearance. No doubt she was cooler than him in her regular ninja outfit, revealing as always. Although, the fishnet bands that were usually present on her elbows were absent, no doubt uncomfortable in this heat. Shikamaru knew all about that, his fishnet armbands absent as well, though he still wore a fishnet shirt. The purple shirt Ino wore was an even darker shade from her sweat, and he watched as a drop rolled down her revealed abdomen. Lower and lower down her pale skin, glistening in the sun's bright rays that made a path through the canopy of trees. Thoughts quickly poured into his tactical genius mind, and it took all he had not to blush. Times when sweat would pour down her abdomen that are X-rated and most definitely not suitable for children. _Ok, now is not the time for those thoughts._ he thought to himself. He stifled a blush and a hormonal reaction by shooing away the thoughts almost as quickly as they had come, and spoke to her in his regular lazy tone.

"Troublesome woman, why don't you take the lead and cut through all these damn plants." He was getting agitated as well as Ino from all this heat, and was not in the mood for Ino's complaining. It took very little for these two to argue, especially in times like these. Shikamaru threw Ino his kunai that was being used to make a pathway for the rest of the team, and she caught it with ease.

"Move aside." she said, as she shoved past him, already getting to work on the plants ahead of them. Another reason why she wanted to get ahead of Shikamaru was to fight the blush that was threatening to stain her cheeks because of the dark gleam she had seen in Shikamaru's eyes as they raked over her body. She chopped at the vegetation relentlessly, trying to forget the image and how it made her spine tingle in fright and excitement.

Ino was already tiring from previous fatigue, and the constant heat caused from the sun would not let up. She was almost ready to give up when she came across a particularly stubborn plant, and ask Shikamaru to continue, but her Yamanaka pride would not allow her to do such. _Damn it's hotter than before, if that's possible, and it isn't even midday yet, judging from the position of the sun._ She calculated. Contrary to popular belief, Ino was not a dumb blonde and could easily calculate things like the time by the position of the sun. Of course she was not as brilliant, nor a genius like Shikamaru, but she did know a fair amount more than most shinobi, less than some other shinobi. _Damn isolated island. Curse you, Tsunade-sama!_ She thought again. Of course Tsunade had to assign them a mission in the hottest place in the fire country, which was an island about 13 miles off the coast of Konoha. It was so lowly populated that it didn't even have a name.

"What was that you were saying before about moving faster?" Shikamaru questioned mockingly behind her. She could feel his eyes on her back, and could just see that smirk on his lips. Oh how she wanted to just beat it off of him. Or kiss those sensual lips that mocked her. _Not again!_ She thought. _It must be the heat! No way do I have a thing for that lazy-ass!_ She refrained from doing either action to Shikamaru, though. This mission was important, and if they completed this with no problems the old Team 10 was promised a well-deserved vacation. She growled, counted to ten in her head, and continued hacking away at the plants. She was not going to let Shikamaru get the better of her this time!

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It was quiet, _too_ quiet. The only sound was Ino chopping at the vegetation and the crunch of the leaves beneath their feet. Wait, crunch! Shikamaru turned around, finding no one behind him.

"Hey, where's Chouji?" Ino asked, looking behind her after a few moments of cutting. She had sensed Shikamaru becoming anxious, and realized why it felt oddly quiet even with the noise from chopping at the vegetation. "Maybe he stopped to get a drink of water, or dropped his chip bag?" she offered, hoping for the best. Chouji was undoubtedly the hottest of them all with all his armor. It would make sense for him to stop for water. Shikamaru sighed and turned around.

"What a drag." he said, taking the kunai out of Ino's hands and starting back on the path they had created to find their other teammate.

**Meanwhile In Konoha**

-Knock-Knock-

"Hey, Shikamaru!" yelled our number-one-hyperactive-ninja as he pounded on the door to the young Nara's apartment. Naruto had been standing there for a good five minutes pounding away at the door. It was just before noon and it was getting hotter outside. A scowl etched its way onto the usually smiling face of the Kyuubi container. "If that lazy-ass is sleeping I swear I'm gonna…" Naruto broke off as he made a hand sign and poofed into Shikamaru's apartment.

It was quiet, even quieter than usual. "Shikamaru? Hey, I wanted to know if you and your team wanted to meet up with the rest of the Rookie 9 at the Academy tonight!" Naruto took a look around the apartment. Nothing there. "Shikamaru?" the blonde walked around the apartment. He checked Shikamaru's room first, ready to yell at him for being asleep. As he kicked the door open, he saw Shikamaru's bed made, and room clean. It looked like it hadn't been used in days.

After checking Shikamaru's room, Naruto headed over to the kitchen for a glass of water. It was summer, and it was hot as hell there! "Damn, he can't even put on the air conditioning? Lazy, cheap bastard." As he walked past the kitchen table, he noticed a short note written in Shikamaru's handwriting.

_If you're reading this, then Ino, Chouji, and I have left for a mission. I should be back in a few days, so don't touch anything. That means you, Naruto._

"Damn that guy—! How did he know…?"

Well, some things are better left unknown. Ah, the mind of Shikamaru is one big unknown, so complex and simple at the same time. No wonder it was so hard to read that guy!

"Heh, well I guess that solves that!" Naruto rubbed the back of his neck and did his usual foxy grin before he poofed out of the apartment, back to the ramen shack for a few bowls for lunch.

**Back to Team 10**

"_Aaahhh!!!" _

"Hey, did you hear that?" Shikamaru asked Ino, halting to listen to where the scream was coming from. Ino silently nodded, grabbing a few kunai out of her pouch. She narrowed her eyes in concentration as she tried to listen. It sounded like Chouji. "Let's move." Shikamaru commanded, breaking out into a run along the path they had made a few moments ago.

Stray branches scraped their arms and faces as they ran, the duo not heeding their vicious attacks of revenge for entering their domain, untouched for so long. Ino huffed in frustration as a particularly large branch swung back and hit her in the face. "Damn that Shikamaru, can't even hold a branch back for his own frickin teammate…" She mumbled as she chased after him. But she didn't blame him at all, knowing he was concerned for his closest friend.

All of a sudden Shikamaru stopped, holding out an arm for Ino to do so as well. She did as he bade, and peered over the top of his appendage to gaze at the scene being played out before them.

A short distance from where they stood was Chouji, eyes closed and his ever present bag of potato chips held out in front of him, almost like an…offering?

"Here! Take my chips!" He screamed. Ino and Shikamaru came across the scene with wide eyes at their friend, who was offering his bag of chips to a giant spider on a web that appeared to be about ten feet tall. Ino and Shikamaru sweat dropped. Watching their large teammate scared of a spider, scared enough to give up _food,_ was hilarious. Shikamaru fought to keep in his laughter. But after about another minute of watching this display, a vein started to pop out of Ino's forehead.

"Chouji! You screamed because of a _spider_?!" Ino yelled, enraged that they had lost precious time from getting to the small village that was in the middle of this jungle. You couldn't use chakra to jump on the trees because of all the vegetation, so they were stuck traveling by foot. _Damn oversized plants._ She thought. If Ino was cursing plants, this was bad.

"Look at it!" He retorted, eyes never leaving the spider. _Oh god_, Chouji was becoming hysterical.

Shikamaru sighed, annoyed by his teammates surprising antics. He walked over to where they were standing and looked at the spider. "Not even poisonous." Shikamaru said with annoyance dripping from his words. He quickly threw a kunai just away from the spider with dead accuracy, and it quickly crawled up the large spider web.

"Alright, we need to deliver this scroll by nightfall, let's start back on the trail we already made." _This mission is turning out to be such a drag. Sigh, why does my life have to be so troublesome._

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**AN: So that's it for the first chapter. Chapters two and three are already finished, so I'll update when I feel I have enough good feedback. Thanks for reading!**


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Hey everyone! Well, isn't this a quick update!! Well, for me it is… lol anyways, you should all be so proud of me. Btw made some minor gramatical touch ups to the last chapter. It's not anything that requires it to be reread (unless you love it so much you want to reread it XD jk jk).  
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**Warning: One very bad word in this, then just the usual bad words to follow. Nothing you shouldn't be able to handle.**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto.**

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In the Streets of Konoha

"Hinata-chan!!!" Naruto yelled while standing in the middle of the street in Konoha. Hinata blushed and stopped walking, turning to face her crush, and giving a modest wave to him.

"H-hello…N-Naruto-kun." She said quietly, reenacting her usual pose of pressing her index fingers together. _Naruto-kun is talking to me!_ She thought to herself. She half-smiled at the thought through her slightly-faded blush.

Naruto ran over to where she was standing, and started talking to her with that usual goofy grin on his face. "Well, Shikamaru, Ino, and Chouji are on a mission today, so they can't come to the reunion at the Academy. Iruka-sensei postponed it until they get back. I was just telling you so you didn't show up tonight!" Naruto smiled his foxy grin, his eyes scrunching up. Hinata couldn't help but think he looked so cute like that.

"O-okay Naruto-kun…t-thank you for t-telling me..." Hinata bowed her head, and started to quickly walk away from Naruto. _Stupid, stupid, stupid! I couldn't even say anything to impress Naruto-kun!_

"Hinata-chan, wait!" Naruto said, grabbing her wrist and halting her for a moment. If Hinata was red before, it was nothing compared to how her face looked right now. Naruto was oblivious as always and pulled her around to face him, a light and barely noticeable blush present in his face, but his smile still on his face.

"Um…I was wondering if you would, uh, like to go with me to the party?" He asked sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck with his free hand, other hand still holding her wrist. His ever-present confidence had somehow diminished. Hinata's pupil-less eyes widened, and her ever-present blush framed by her long dark hair made her seem even more beautiful to Naruto.

Hinata smiled a gentle smile, nodded slightly, and mumbled out a "yes" before Naruto exclaimed to the world. "YES!!!! I'm going to the party with Hinata-chan!! Thank you thank you thank you, I'll pick you up at seven next Friday!" Naruto gave another foxy grin and sprinted down the street, tripping once, but managing to hop right back on his feet and keep on going.

Hinata stared off to him, a single hand held over her heart, which was beating madly at the moment. _Naruto-kun asked me to the party. Naruto-kun asked me to the party!!!_ A smile larger than any seen in the history of Hyuuga Hinata's life appeared on her face, and she slowly walked along the streets back to her house.

**With Team 10**

"I'm cold."

Ino sat huddling against the inner wall of a cave, gazing out at the swaying trees and the sheets of rain pouring down.

Shikamaru sighed, sitting back down next to his blonde teammate. It was the _n_th time she'd said that. In the past five minutes. "We all are…troublesome woman."

Ino ignored the last part of his comment, wrapping her arms tighter around her torso. It was so unfair! Just hours ago she was sweating to death, and now she's freezing! It's not like she could even enjoy the temperature drop! The rain was brutal, bruising to anyone it touched. The cold was drastic, sending her body into violent shivers once she faced it for a few moments, especially with her body wet from sweat and rain. What the hell was wrong with this island? The weather patterns were just not normal! Ino tucked her knees up to her chest, removing her hands from around her torso to rubbing her goosebump-covered shins. She rested her aching head on her knees, groaning. All she wanted now was a nice, relaxing soak with aromatherapy candles surrounding her in an outdoor hot tub on a clear, starry evening. And a bunch of hot, shirtless guys offering her drinks and snacks and being her servants. That would be nice…

Her body was wracked with another shiver, and the aching in her head intensified tenfold. She groaned once more.

Shikamaru gazed at Ino for a moment, feeling a twinge of pity for the girl. He couldn't tell her that she'd dressed inappropriately for the mission, like every other time she complained of being cold. Hell, for once being too lazy to change his attire before the mission had helped him in the long run. God was he thankful! The black long-sleeved shirt was keeping him just above freezing, and the chunin vest's insulation kept all his body heat inside. It was only his appendages that were cold. But Ino, in that skimpy outfit! Knowing the katon jutsu would come in handy greatly right now. Shikamaru _almost_ wished he were Uchiha right now. Almost. Shikamaru figured that Sasuke never had to worry about freezing his traitorous ass off. Which brought his mind to Ino once more with her head buried in a cloud of hair, goosebumps prominent on her pale skin, and shivers wracking her slim form in regular intervals, almost timed perfectly, all the way down to billionth of a second.

He let his gaze wander away from her, over to where Chouji lay sprawled on the other side of the cave (which was really only about three feet away), sleeping like a baby. All his heavy armor, long hair, and body mass kept him at a more comfortable temperature. He had to be a little cold, but not as cold as someone like Ino, or even Shikamaru. Light snores erupted from him every few moments, and Shikamaru couldn't help but envy him. How he wished that he could fall asleep like that. Considering how easy it was for him to sleep, these conditions must be harsh.

He then felt something brush his arm.

Ino was shivering again, this time more violently than before. "Sh-shika…p-p-please…"

Shikamaru then realized what she was talking about, and his eyes widened. The wind had changed direction, sending the rain to pillow into the cave, right into Ino. The opening of the cave, and the cave overall, was not large. The position Shikamaru was sitting in was preventing Ino from escaping the attack of nature. Shikamaru must have zoned out so much he hadn't heard her when she'd first told him about this. Ino's eyes then fluttered for a moment, and Shikamaru rushed himself into action.

"Ino, hold on a second!" He carefully scooped her up, laying her down a bit away from Chouji. _I knew this cave was too small, but because of the time we spent on Chouji, and the sudden change in elements, this was the only option… _

Shikamaru went over to shake Chouji, trying to awaken him so he could move over and thus give Ino the dryer part of the cave. But once his hand met Chouji's broad shoulder, his friend disappeared in a puff of smoke. "What the—"

"Sh-shika!" Ino moaned, her whole body racked in movements too violent to be a normal case of the shivers. The rain was now pelting into the cave even more. But with "Chouji" gone, there was more room. Ino's arms stretched out, that being the only movement she could make of her own free will, and Shikamaru understood her gesture, grabbing hold of the girl again and moving her to the dryer area, laying her down. It didn't help her shivering subside. Shikamaru gazed at her, utterly clueless as to what was going on. But then it hit him: it must have been a trap. Chouji was never afraid of that spider. He'd been captured. What about Ino? She had to be real. But what was happening to her? His eyes widened. Her body had so little fat because of her constant dieting that it couldn't keep her warm. Whoever was behind this must want the scroll, but is too afraid to attack and show themselves. They were just going to have to kill Shikamaru and Ino silently, slowly. But what was so important about this scroll?

"Mmmmph…" Ino moaned, rolling on the cave floor. Her eyes scrunched up. She was so cold! Way too cold! How she wished she had more body fat right now! But then Shikamaru wouldn't like her. Wait, what was he doing in her thoughts _now_? _It must have been the sickness._ Her muddled mind came up with. _I mean,_ fat_?!_ An aching chill ran up her spine, crawling fast and furiously, and she let out a terrorized scream.

Shikamaru assessed the situation to the best of his ability, tuning out Ino's screams and the beating of the rain to get into his thinking pose and come up with a solution. Moments later, he's opened his eyes and looked at Ino with a critical eye, then back to the entrance of the cave. This was risky.

Nodding to himself, he gave an almost apologetic glance towards Ino as he stripped his chunin vest off and attempted to get it onto Ino's writhing form. This wasn't just an attack of hypothermia: this was an attack on Ino's internal system. Being no medic nin, the only way he could think of to help her is to get her warmer. He struggled to get it on her, holding down on her right shoulder blade to cease movements on that side of her body and get the vest over one arm. It was easier then. He took the zipper and tugged upwards, nothing budging. He let out a frustrated cry, placing a hand on Ino's bare midriff and getting to the inside of the zipper to pull upwards both ways. It worked, and he smiled despite himself. Only then did he realize that he had touched Ino in a no-no place, and his smile dropped immediately. He blushed, even in the situation at hand. He shook his head, clearing the thoughts away and zipping Ino up all the way, trying not to think of how his hand brushed her chest slightly as he did so. Ino's head thrashed against the cave floor, obviously hurting herself unintentionally. Shikamaru's eyes widened once more. There was no way she was in her right mind.

He resorted to a final way to cease her violent spasms:

"Kage Mane no Jutsu!"

And she was still.

He rushed over to the edge of the cave, ignoring how soaked he got after walking out for a few moments, still in range of Ino and making her stay still with an advanced technique he'd learned from his father. The storm outside was tormentuous. Going out would be suicide.

He sighed. Scratch that plan. Walking back in, he layed down, jutsu still in place. It was odd, Ino should still be able to talk, and she wasn't.

He broke his jutsu. He looked down to his teammate.

Ino's eyes opened, clouded over, and then became clear blue. Ino and Shikamaru shared a moment of deathly silence. Her eyes fluttered shut, and it didn't take his genius to figure out what this meant.

"_Fuck_! Ino!"

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"Shikamaru?! Ino?! Where are you?!"

A bulky form thrashed in pitch darkness. There was some form of restraints to his arms and legs, holding him to a wall in a very uncomfortable position.

"Hmph," A distinctly high, female voice tutted. "All that brute strength, and you're captured by some 'little women.' I'd have expected more of an Akimichi." She mocked.

"Who the hell are you?!" Chouji shouted into the black. His eyes flitted through the area. Something glittered out of the corner of his eye.

"That,"

Chouji gulped, feeling cold, hard metal pressed to his neck.

"will be revealed once your friends arrive."

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The rain continued its assault of the island while the people of Konoha, safe in their beds, slept to cloudless skies, letting a bright red moon shine upon them. Not a droplet seen…yet. A storm was on its way, far more tormentuous than Shikamaru and Ino have ever seen.

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**AN: Cliffie! Lol I have this very dramatic, political, sorta feminist idea for this story. Hopefully I'll be able to pull it off :) Thanks for reading and please send in feedback! **


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Chapter 3, here we go! I'm so impressed with the update pace I'm maintaining at this moment!**

**Disclaimer: I do not even pretend to own Naruto.**

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Shikamaru wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. Damn this weather! The light rain was just enough to get into his eyes, and it was just hot enough for him to work up an uncomfortable sweat. Ino was strapped to his back, resting peacefully and not making a peep. Her rhythmic breathing in his ear was all he heard. It was almost as if she'd never had a spastic attack on her body. Almost. The bump on the back of her head was a reminder of that. He knew he'd need an explanation for that…if they made it out of this alive. He couldn't even enjoy the feeling of her pressed against him so intimately because he was so stressed!

"Troublesome." Shikamaru said to himself. After Ino had passed out, he'd picked up their equipment, put Ino on his back, and continued his journey to the village. There, he could complete the mission and get Ino to a doctor. She probably got bit by a mosquito or something and had an odd reaction to it, nothing too malignant.

He groaned; all this equipment and Ino's dead weight were killing his back. But he was close to the village, and there was no way he'd stop now. The sun was setting, too, and just in time. Shikamaru had started walking at the middle of the afternoon, and his last break was roughly an hour ago. Every few moments he damned the mission and every little troublesome detail of it.

Shikamaru adjusted Ino, having felt her slide down slightly, just enough to make it even harder for him to carry her. Even passed out she made his life difficult. He almost laughed at the irony of it all. _Almost_.

According to his calculations, the village they were originally supposed to drop the message off in was another mile in this forest. He'd already wasted roughly three hours waiting the storm out and stabilizing Ino. Another good two hours could be accredited to him walking through the forest. The villagers should be expecting them. Then Ino can be healed once Shikamaru explained the situation, and when Ino's recovering he can deliver the scroll.

Shikamaru's step faltered.

"Shit, what about Chouji?!" If his hands were free, he would have slapped his forehead. His large friend was more than likely in the village, and if not then on this island.

"Great, a search party…" He mumbled. "Why is it always _me_?" He raised his head to look through the canopy of trees and into the glare of the sun.

--X--

The inner island village was bustling with activity. The shopping district, lined with carts of crops, silks and linens, iron and other metal utensils, and miscellaneous other goods, all home grown on the island. Little girls in oversized tunics ran around, and women with hair pinned practically out of their faces carried baskets to get their necessities. Venders spoke seriously of the quality of their products, and prospective buyers listened carefully, affirming themselves to get the best deal.

An odd aura reflected off the town, as if something was out of balance, something was not right with it. The children were too well-behaved and quiet in their youthful rambunctiousness; the vendors not boasting throughout the shopping district and across the way, trying to attract customers, but rather letting the customers come to them; the customers themselves were too keen for any exaggerations to the product in which they inspected for purchase, too articulate and far beyond that of a seasoned consumer.

An average woman picking out the best fish faltered in her analysis, her ears perking up at a sound, her nose going beyond the fishy scent and into one a few hundred yards beyond her standing point.

"Hey, do you…sense that?" The woman asked the vender. The other, older woman frowned, confused.

"I don't know…" Her face wrinkled even more into a surprised expression.

A gasp went through the citizens in the town as someone entered the town, carrying an obviously ill woman. What shocked, what _terrified_ these women, was that it was a man.

Citizens were frozen in their places, and as he paced up the middle of the street, women scurried the shocked children, sometimes not even their own, onto the sides to let the strange man and woman pass.

"Excuse me," The man went up to the woman trying to buy fish. "but could you direct me to the nearest hospit—er, clinic. As you can see, my teammate—"

"Say no more," The woman exhaled out in a shaky, breathy answer. She walked a few steps, gesturing for the stranger to follow. He did so unquestioningly.

--X--

"Um, Ma'am, I don't think this is—"

"Just get inside before someone hears you!" The woman angrily whispered, stepping inside a run-down stone building hidden behind a line of trees.

Shikamaru had no choice but to follow her, but while on even higher alert than before.

The door slammed shut behind him, and he was led over to a doctors table to lay Ino down, and stood by her side as the woman sat down in the wooden chair beside the table, meeting his eyes angrily.

"What the hell do you think you're doing waltzing right into this town?!" She exclaimed, utterly in amazement at his lack of thinking.

"What are you talking about? I'm here to bring this scroll—"

"Shhh! Not so loud!"

Shikamaru sighed. He hadn't even been speaking loudly. His voice dropped to a lower whisper.

"Lady Hokage gave my team a mission to deliver a scroll to this village. My teammate developed an odd illness, and my other teammate is missing. I came here as soon as the rain would let me to try and get some help. Someone's obviously after this scroll."

"Of course they are! And you were supposed to arrive _yesterday_! Not today! Never today! Only _yesterday_!"

"You're not making any sense—"

"Hush, boy! Now you've made this whole situation worse than it was. It was bad enough that your large friend was kidnapped—"

Shikamaru's eyes widened.

"Kidnapped?!"

"Shhh!!!"

Shikamaru's mouth snapped shut.

"Yes, by the village priestess. It's a good thing I recognized Chouji or else…"

"Wait, how did you know his name?"

The woman smirked. "I thought I raised you better than that."

"Mom?!" Shikamaru's jaw dropped open here, shocked as the smirking woman across from his removed a gray hair wig and shook out her brown, slightly graying hair.

"Yes, dear."

"But why are you…everyone searched…it's been two years since you were captured on that mission with Dad!"

"Yes, and Shikamaru, two long years." She sighed wistfully. "Chouji…Ino…yourself…you've all grown so much, and I missed it all…" Yoshino leaned over Ino and pressed her ear to her chest, listening to her heartbeat with a look of concentration on her face.

"But Mom, why didn't you return? Or send mail so we could come and get you? It's not that far to Konoha! Dad was depressed without you there…" _And so was I…_

"Oh how I've tried! But there's one thing you must know…once you're on this island, and _they've_ seen you, you'll never escape. No one has ever escaped."

Shikamaru sighed, plopping into the wooden chair on the opposite side of Ino's bed.

"This is too much…" He mumbled, rubbing his temples.

"I know, dear, but you're growing up and need to face the reality of what this world has to offer. Not everyone has a style of living like that of Konoha. Sometimes people don't think our type of government is the best option. And we must learn to live with this." She took a glance at Ino. "And do no worry about your friend. She will break out of this trance by the time the moon is out."

Silence followed, broken only by the panting coming from Ino. Her chest moved up and down at an erratic pace, her face broken out in a cold sweat. She was fine right before Shikamaru entered the gates of this strange place. The dank building offered no reassurance to the weary mother and son. Their minds were too filled with thoughts, questions, and things unsaid. But now was not the time.

"Mother…" Shikamaru looked across the table to look into Yoshino's eyes, so much like his own. "You have to explain to me the history of this island."

Yoshino's already tired face grew even more weary.

"It is not a simple answer, Shikamaru. It is much like a tale, like a legend that turns out to be true."

"We have time." He answered quickly, sparing a glance at Ino and noting no change.

"It started around the time of the Second Great Hokage…"

And Shikamaru was enraptured by the tale that his mother spun. If she had not been a ninja, she should have been a storyteller. Her voice, slightly raspy from misuse and age, created a grand effect on her telling. But the content is what got to him most.

A village, full of outcast women from different ninja villages scattered across the world. The originals had been sent away during a period of what the elite called "Cleansing." Any woman who exhibited ninja abilities was taken away. It was believed that her genes would corrupt the genes of her partner's when they made a child. The child would be weak, if a ninja at all. Women without any conflicting ninja abilities were prime for a male ninja to reproduce with. Breeding stock. Of course, today these ideas are seen as preposterous. But then…no. Or maybe it was because these elite feared the power that these female ninjas held over men. For not only were they equal in strength and intelligence (which these elite grudgingly had to admit), but they could also perform an act that could bring any strong man to his knees: temptation. So these outcasts formed their own village. New daughters are often orphans found by a special group in the society, and the cycle continues. Only in recent years did it turn into what it is now: a cult.

"…With the rise of Sorceress Alpha, cases like mine started to happen. Although I am lucky: I still have my memory. _A_ is a force to be reckoned with, a force that Tsunade and I have been working cooperatively in secret to get rid of. "

He sat in stunned silence, glancing through the cracks between the boards covering the windows to see the bright hues progressively coming darker, listening to Ino's labored breathing relax marginally.

"And this is what the scroll was for. I'm taking it that my team was going to meet in secret with you yesterday while the rest of the village…?" He trailed off, waiting for the facts.

"Yes. The village would be at a special banquet in honor of Sorceress _A_. If perhaps someone were to pass upon us, Ino was given details on what to do. You were instructed that, if in a situation, to follow Ino's lead, correct?"

The pieces were falling in place. As Shikamaru looked away from his mother and at the girl, he appraised her in a new light. To think she nearly risked her life while keeping him in the dark?

"She is something else…" Yoshino whispered, smiling softly as the light escaped the room and darkness swallowed them up. Shikamaru found himself nodding. Only moments before Ino would awaken with the rise of the moon.

Yoshino watched her son as he gazed at Ino in anticipation. Her heart warmed, awakening from the icy box it had locked itself in while away from those she loved.

As Ino's eyes fluttered open, Shikamaru's breath caught. It was astounding to see the utter hazy confusion residing there turn into realization in a split second.

But most of all…she was back.

Ino sat up with the assistance of the Naras, her hand rubbing her forehead. She looked at Yoshino quickly with a flash of understanding on her face. She looked at Shikamaru, knowing that he was finally filled in. She looked between the boards to see the faint glow of the moon filter into the shabby room.

"It's time."

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AN: Wow, suspense. I haven't written that in a while. Hope you like! Haven't written next chapter yet, though. It's supposed to be the last but I may do an epilogue. :)


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